Fujiwara, a three-piece out of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, has been rockin’ the punk scene for close to two decades now along side such notable acts as Angry Samoans and Murphy’s Law. And to celebrate the 20 years Fujiwara has been together, Fringe Records has put together a 12-track album of the skate-punk band’s best material called Legacy.

Legacy really shows off Fujiwara’s ability to mix surf-punk and hardcore with their overall skate-punk vibe. The song “Yesterday” is the perfect example of where you can hear the band’s surf-punk sound. The guitar is fast, fuzzy and plays a consistent chord progression, but the every so often you can the guitarist do a full side down the neck or play a huge bend as a fill. This song is also the more the melodic of the bunch when it comes to vocals.

But Fujiwara doesn't only stick to their surf sound, they also delve a bit into some hardcore, specifically in the song “Standing on the Edge.” Musically, this track is a total throwback to the '80s. The guitar is jarring and changes chords sporadically and the drums are turbulent. But once the lead vocalist begins, this song instantly turns into a melodic hardcore song straight from the '90s. It's an interesting mixture of the styles from both decades.

When the lead vocalist isn’t screaming during the more hardcore tracks, he tends to sing in this high-pitched and hypnotic voice that drones on. It’s a very stylistically unique way to sing that you don’t hear very often and arguably its what makes Fujiwara stand out. Through out Legacy it does seem like the vocals were tracked so that they sound like they are more in the background behind the instruments rather than in front.

Even at just twelve tracks, at times the album does drag a bit around the middle and the songs begin to blur together. Individual tracks become harder to identify from one another when listening to this release from beginning to end. That’s the drawback this release has. There is a solid amount of skate-punk tunes on this record for you to pick and choose from though. Legacy is a good way to get acquainted with Fujiwara if you have not heard their material before.

You can check this album out here.